Compromise in Senate's Farm Bill could allow small meat processors to ship across state lines

Consumer groups have long argued against allowing state-inspected meat to be sold in other states — arguing instead for federal regulation — but a new compromise would allow just that for small meat-processing operations. The compromise, part of the Farm Bill now in the Senate Agricultural Committee, would let state-inspected meat be sold across state lines as long as that inspection meets federal standards, the Des Moines Register reports.

"Under current law, a processor must be regulated by the U.S. Agriculture Department to sell meat out of state, a 40-year-old requirement that would be abolished under the House-passed version of the farm bill," writes Philip Brasher from the paper's Washington, D.C., bureau. "Under the compromise, processors that are now state inspected would have to comply with federal inspection regulations to ship out of state. The products would be allowed to bear a USDA seal."

The provision applies only to plants with 25 employees or fewer; larger plants would have to join federal inspection to have interstate sales. Currently, 27 states have their own inspection plans. (Read more)